Food and Drink: Sales and Exports

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will support the strategies of the Food and Drink Federation to promote the growth of domestic sales and exports by its member companies.

Lord De Mauley: The Food and Drink Federation represents the largest manufacturing sector in the UK. The sector employs some 400,000 people with a turnover of over £76 billion. The Food and Drink Federation's 20/20 vision for this sector sets out a shared commitment to deliver sustainable growth in this sector. Defra and other parts of the Government including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, UK Trade and Investment and the Food Standards Agency have been working closely with the Food and Drink Federation, their members and other parts of the food and farming industry to help achieve our shared goals.
	This includes developing a joint government and industry action plan for driving exports growth in the farming, food and drink sector, now being implemented; strengthening relationships with major food and drink exporters and investors to identify and unlock barriers to growth and investment; and supporting growth by promoting innovation through industry-led collaborative R&D to develop innovative products, processes and approaches to improve access to markets.

Government Departments: Procurement

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to increase the transparency of public spending on government procurement cards in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister between 2001 and 2006.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to increase the transparency of public spending on government procurement cards in the Deputy Prime Minister's Office between 2006 and 2007.

Baroness Hanham: Under the coalition Government, the Department for Communities and Local Government has been at the forefront of the transparency agenda and publishing open data on spending.
	This has included publishing past and present data on government procurement cards administered by the department, including transactions under the auspices of the then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister from 2004 (from which data are held), the then Deputy Prime Minister's Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	This spending data can be found online at: www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/transparencyingovernment/spenddata/.
	As I observed in my answer of 17 January 2012 (Official Report, col. WA 122) such transparency has highlighted wasteful and profligate spending, which is a legitimate area for ongoing parliamentary and public scrutiny.
	This Administration have put in place tough controls on such card spending and the very act of transparency acts as a valuable check and balance to ensure greater protection of taxpayers' money in the future.

Government Departments: Procurement

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to increase the transparency of past public spending on government procurement cards in the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the value for money and efficiency of past spending on government procurement cards in the Department for Communities and Local Government and its predecessor departments.

Baroness Hanham: Sir Philip Green's report into government efficiency in October 2010 criticised insufficient monitoring and poor spending controls on such corporate charge cards. Under the coalition, the Department for Communities and Local Government has been at the forefront of the transparency agenda and publishing open data on spending. We have also published historic data, including transactions on government procurement cards, to help identify wasteful spending and to place current spending patterns in context.
	Combined with introducing tougher spending controls on card holders, this new transparency regime has helped the department reduce our card spending by over three-quarters, from £321,076 a year in 2009-10, to just £70,835 in 2011-12.
	Such online scrutiny has highlighted wasteful and profligate spending. It is the opinion of Ministers in this Administration that a number of transactions do not represent value for money for the taxpayer. As noted in previous parliamentary answers, pertinent examples include ministerial meetings at the Wolseley and Boisdales, (24 October 2011, Official Report, Commons, col. 62W); an away day at a venue offering burlesque entertainment (13 July 2011, Official Report, Commons, col. 361W) and hospitality at Sky City Casino in New Zealand and Star City Casino in Australia (3 November 2011, Official Report, Commons, col. 784W) and (17 January 2012, Official Report, col. WA 122).

Government Departments: Procurement

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps the Department for Communities and Local Government has taken to stop fraudulent spending on government procurement cards.

Baroness Hanham: Under this Administration, my department has introduced new internal checks and audit trails on the use of the government procurement card, from pre-approvals to requiring post-transaction reporting. Our transparency agenda of publishing spending data online has also increased internal and external scrutiny of every single transaction on such charge cards.
	Departmental practice is for the card holder to check statements against usage and report any anomalies to the card issuing company; cards are cancelled if they are lost, stolen or there is a risk that the card number could become known to a third party. As I outlined in my answer of 17 January 2012 (Official Report, col. WA 122), there were seven identified cloned transactions in 2004-06 out of approximately 4,800 authorised transactions. These were refunded by the card company, and for the avoidance of doubt, I am not aware of any other cloned transactions in that time period.

Health: Sleep Apnoea

Baroness Scott of Needham Market: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking with regard to the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea.

Earl Howe: The National Clinical Directors for Respiratory Disease have identified obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) as one of the priority areas for the respiratory programme in the department for this year. As a result, a clinical lead and a project manager were appointed and are currently mapping existing services and identifying priorities for action on OSA. Working groups have been established to support this work, involving a range of experts and stakeholders, including representatives from the British Lung Foundation, British Thoracic Society, British Sleep Society, Association of Respiratory Technology and Physiology, Association of Respiratory Nurse Specialists, Primary Care Respiratory Society and the Sleep Apnoea Trust Association.
	The national programme for physiological diagnostics continues to monitor access to investigations for OSA and other sleep-related breathing problems, and promotes best practice in service delivery.
	Waiting time data are available in the public domain and was included in the NHS Atlas of Variation in Healthcare for People with Respiratory Disease: www.rightcare.nhs.uk/index.php/atlas/respiratorydisease.
	It will also be included in the Diagnostics Atlas of Variation for England which will be published shortly. The current median waiting time for diagnostic sleep studies is 2.3 weeks.

Malaria

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty's Government what contingency planning they are undertaking in case of the advent of malaria in the United Kingdom.

Earl Howe: Since the beginning of the 20th century there has been no indigenous malaria in the United Kingdom but travel-associated cases are reported in those who have travelled to or arrived from malaria-endemic areas. The number of cases of imported malaria remains at around 2,000 per year, with the most recent figures being 1,677 for 2011.
	The environmental conditions in the UK are currently not favourable for multiplication of the parasite or widespread distribution of vectors. A recent report on Health Effects of Climate Change on Public Health in the UK considered the risk of malaria in the UK to be low, but field-based research continues and investigators share data in order to be better able to observe trends.
	Malaria is a notifiable disease in the UK, to ensure that any cases are investigated and that if necessary appropriate control measures can be taken.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many foreign national prisoners were detained in each prison in England and Wales on the latest date for which information is available, and how many such prisoners had completed their sentence.

Lord McNally: Table A as follows provides information on the foreign national prisoner population by establishment as at 30 June 2012. These figures are published quarterly in the Offender Management Statistics quarterly bulletin on the Ministry of Justice website.
	As at Monday 8 October 2012, there were 557 immigration detainees held in prison and Table B provides the number held in each prison.
	
		
			 Table A: Foreign National Prisoner Population by Establishment (including those in NOMS operated Immigration Removal Centres), England and Wales, 30 June 2012 
			 Establishment Foreign nationals 
			 Males 
			 Altcourse 38 
			 Ashfield 28 
			 Aylesbury 68 
			 Bedford 92 
			 Belmarsh 198 
			 Birmingham 190 
			 Blantyre House 2 
			 Blundeston 40 
			 Brinsford 56 
			 Bristol 73 
			 Brixton 83 
			 Buckley Hall 6 
			 Bullingdon 146 
			 Bullwood Hall 212 
			 Bure 68 
			 Canterbury 294 
			 Cardiff 38 
			 Channings Wood 45 
			 Chelmsford 82 
			 Coldingley 30 
			 Cookham Wood 14 
			 Dartmoor 21 
			 Deerbolt 6 
			 Doncaster 103 
			 Dorchester 15 
			 Dovegate 77 
			 Durham 33 
			 Elmley (Sheppey cluster) 161 
			 Erlestoke 13 
			 Everthorpe 16 
			 Exeter 21 
			 Featherstone 47 
			 Feltham 151 
			 Ford 29 
			 Forest Bank 50 
			 Frankland 62 
			 Full Sutton 73 
			 Garth 66 
			 Gartree 109 
			 Glen Parva 79 
			 Gloucester 27 
			 Grendon / Spring Hill 20 
			 Guys Marsh 47 
			 Haverigg 40 
			 Hewell (2) 157 
			 High Down 190 
			 Highpoint (North and South) 195 
			 Hindley 13 
			 Hollesley Bay 4 
			 Holme House 51 
			 Hull 52 
			 Huntercombe 291 
			 Isis (3) 108 
			 Isle of Wight (4) 199 
			 Kennet 3 
			 Kingston 22 
			 Kirkham 9 
			 Kirklevington Grange 1 
			 Lancaster Farms 19 
			 Leeds 92 
			 Leicester 58 
			 Lewes 70 
			 Leyhill 22 
			 Lincoln 83 
			 Lindholme 95 
			 Littlehey 217 
			 Liverpool 79 
			 Long Lartin 86 
			 Lowdham Grange 101 
			 Maidstone 165 
			 Manchester 111 
			 Moorland / Hatfield 170 
			 Mount 106 
			 North Sea Camp 11 
			 Northallerton 8 
			 Northumberland (6) 8 
			 Norwich 96 
			 Nottingham 98 
			 Onley 16 
			 Oakwood 30 
			 Parc 67 
			 Pentonville 349 
			 Peterborough (5) 105 
			 Portland 34 
			 Preston 28 
			 Ranby 119 
			 Reading 18 
			 Risley 195 
			 Rochester 63 
			 Rye Hill 105 
			 Shepton Mallet 14 
			 Shrewsbury 16 
			 Stafford 45 
			 Standford Hill (Sheppey cluster) 26 
			 Stocken 17 
			 Stoke Heath 31 
			 Sudbury 21 
			 Swaleside (Sheppey cluster) 218 
			 Swansea 19 
			 Swinfen Hall 49 
			 Thameside 155 
			 Thorn Cross 3 
			 Usk / Prescoed 20 
			 Verne 249 
			 Wakefield 64 
			 Wandsworth 448 
			 Warren Hill 17 
			 Wayland 22 
			 Wealstun 14 
			 Wellingborough 76 
			 Werrington 14 
			 Wetherby 17 
			 Whatton 37 
			 Whitemoor 105 
			 Winchester 50 
			 Wolds 10 
			 Woodhill 110 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 407 
			 Wymott 67 
			 Total Male (excluding NOMS IRCs) 9,529 
			 Females 
			 Askham Grange 4 
			 Bronzefield 112 
			 Downview 91 
			 Drake Hall 60 
			 East Sutton Park 1 
			 Eastwood Park 29 
			 Foston Hall 26 
			 Holloway 172 
			 Low Newton 6 
			 New Hall 20 
			 Peterborough (5) 35 
			 Send 24 
			 Styal 34 
			 Total Female (excluding NOMS IRCs) 614 
			 NOMS Operated Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) 
			 Dover IRC 295 
			 Haslar IRC 137 
			 Morton Hall IRC (1) 286 
			 Total IRCs 718 
			 All establishments 10,861 
		
	
	(1) On 13 January 2011 the Secretary of State for Justice announced that HMP Morton Hall, will close (having previously been a female prison) and then re-open as an Immigration Removal Centre, holding immigration detainees on behalf of UKBA. On 16 May Morton Hall began operating as an Immigration Removal Centre.
	(2) HMP Hewell was created by an amalgamation of the three former prisons, Blakenhurst, Brockhill and Hewell Grange on 25 June 2008; as of the 30 September 2011 the Brockhill site closed.
	(3) HMP and YOI Isis, which opened on 28 July 2010, is sited within the perimeter wall of HMP Belmarsh.
	(4) HMP Isle of Wight was created by an amalgamation of the three former prisons, Albany, Camp Hill and Parkhurst on 1 April 2009.
	(5) Peterborough is a dual purpose prison for men and women.
	(6) HMP Northumberland is the new name for Acklington and Castington.
	Data Sources and Quality
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			 Table B: Number of immigration detainees held in prison on Monday 8 October 2012, by establishment 
			 Prison Number of Immigration Detainees held on Monday 8 October 
			 Altcourse 3 
			 Ashfield 1 
			 Aylesbury 1 
			 Bedford 6 
			 Belmarsh 15 
			 Birmingham 10 
			 Blundeston 3 
			 Brinsford 3 
			 Bristol 2 
			 Bronzefield 3 
			 Bullingdon 6 
			 Bullwood Hall 13 
			 Bure 4 
			 Canterbury 6 
			 Cardiff 2 
			 Chelmsford 9 
			 Dartmoor 1 
			 Doncaster 11 
			 Dorchester 5 
			 Dovegate 4 
			 Downview 1 
			 Drake Hall 1 
			 Durham 3 
			 Elmley (Sheppey Cluster) 33 
			 Exeter 1 
			 Featherstone 1 
			 Feltham 15 
			 Forest Bank 5 
			 Foston Hall 1 
			 Full Sutton 1 
			 Garth 2 
			 Glen Parva 7 
			 Gloucester 3 
			 Guys Marsh 3 
			 Hewell 9 
			 High Down 21 
			 Highpoint (North and South) 18 
			 Holloway 12 
			 Holme House 9 
			 Hull 5 
			 Huntercombe 1 
			 Isis 4 
			 Isle of Wight 1 
			 Lancaster Farms 2 
			 Leeds 8 
			 Leicester 3 
			 Lewes 6 
			 Lincoln 17 
			 Lindholme 3 
			 Littlehey 23 
			 Liverpool 7 
			 Long Lartin 3 
			 Maidstone 10 
			 Manchester 3 
			 Moorland / Hatfield 19 
			 Mount 9 
			 New Hall 2 
			 Norwich 15 
			 Nottingham 6 
			 Oakwood 1 
			 Parc 5 
			 Pentonville 25 
			 Peterborough 7 
			 Portland 1 
			 Preston 2 
			 Ranby 6 
			 Risley 19 
			 Rochester 2 
			 Rye Hill 1 
			 Stafford 2 
			 Stoke Heath 5 
			 Styal 1 
			 Swinfen Hall 1 
			 Thameside 22 
			 Usk / Prescoed 1 
			 Verne 2 
			 Wakefield 2 
			 Wandsworth 21 
			 Whatton 2 
			 Winchester 4 
			 Woodhill 14 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 8 
			 Wymott 2 
			 Total 557

Prisons: Strip Searches

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty's Government what changes have been made at New Hall prison in the light of the report of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, published in August, describing as "unacceptable and unnecessary" the practice of cutting the clothes off women prisoners when forcibly strip searching them.

Lord McNally: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is considering the recommendations made in HM Inspectorate of Prisons' (HMCIP) report on HMP and YOI New Hall published on 29 August 2012. As with all establishment inspection reports by HMIP, NOMS intends to produce an action plan responding to all the recommendations made in the report between three and six months after the date of publication. I will therefore write to the noble Baroness detailing the response to the recommendations about this matter once the plan has been sent to the chief inspector.
	The national policy on full searching prisoners under restraint is contained within Prison Service Order (PSO) 1600, Use of Force. It is lawful for all prisoners, including women, to be forcibly full searched and for their clothing to be cut off them as part of the search. However, this should only be done when it is absolutely necessary, where there is no alternative and with the authority of the duty governor or supervising officer in charge.
	Since the HMIP inspection, HMP and YOI New Hall has reinforced the specific techniques on how and when to remove clothes from prisoners without the need to cut them off in ongoing control and restraint training and also via a notice to staff which clarifies the process.

Trees: Ivy

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Newby on 24 September (WA 295), on what evidence they base their view that ivy poses no threat to trees; what other problems cause the death of ivy-clad trees; and whether they believe that a reduction in the spread of ivy could be beneficial.

Lord De Mauley: We based our view on advice from the Forestry Commission, which has found that ivy may be a contributory factor in the death of some declining trees but its investigations suggest this is a result of exacerbating problems in already weakened or diseased trees rather than actually killing healthy ones.
	While some may see a reduction in the spread of ivy as beneficial, we have no plans to encourage its removal: this is a decision for individual land owners and managers.